


Awaiting Winter's Snow

by carsinoska



Category: Food Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, mentions of minor character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 21:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21083609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carsinoska/pseuds/carsinoska
Summary: Sanma, Sukiyaki, and the first snowfall of winter."Do you know what I don’t like about the snow?”





	Awaiting Winter's Snow

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off what happens in the [event](http://wiki.joyme.com/szqy/%E3%80%90%E7%8B%A1%E9%BB%A0%E5%A6%82%E7%8B%90%EF%BC%8C%E5%BF%83%E5%87%80%E5%A6%82%E9%9B%AA%E3%80%91) with Sukiyaki's Wintermore skin! Except I used Google Translate because I can't read Chinese. I wish the Japanese server ran the event with the story, but no. It has not. And neither has Global. Also, I'm using the name “Wakaba” for Sukiyaki's previous Master Attendant - the translation from the Japanese server. Because I believe they are in Sakurajima - so basically Japan.
> 
> Finally, I like to think of this song, [Sakuyakaze by Musirisca](https://youtu.be/TeEIauogexM?t=359), for this fic...! The lyrics don't really match, I just like the composition.

Sukiyaki enjoyed his afternoon break sitting outside the pavilion with a hot cup of tea, though the chilly breeze bothered him. Despite the warm glow of the sun through the red maple trees, the temperature had really been dropping in the past few days. Of course, autumn always gave way to winter, but Sukiyaki hated it every time it came. If he could, he would have been happy to curl up in his futon until spring.

But he had his responsibilities as the owner of the Red Lead Pavilion. He couldn’t just fork it all off onto poor Ume Ochazuke.

A few days later, it started to snow. And just like every year, Sukiyaki limited his movement inside the pavilion to only the rooms without windows. The sight of snow brought back unpleasant memories.

Surprisingly enough, Sanma Shioyaki came to visit him later in the evening. Usually, Sanma was so busy at the school, dealing with those young Food Souls, that Sukiyaki was the one who visited him. And yet, there he was. Through the doorway, Sukiyaki could see that the snow hadn’t let up since the morning.

“It’s snowing,” Sanma said. He never was a talkative guy.

“...Yeah, it is.”

For a moment, the two of them stood at the doorway in awkward silence. Sukiyaki wasn’t quite looking at Sanma anymore, but rather, he was staring at something in the distance. 

“Should we go?”

Sanma’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. “Oh. Uh, sure, one second,” Sukiyaki replied. “Come inside. I need to tell Ume that I’m stepping out for a bit.”

Sukiyaki took off for the kitchen, knowing that Ume would probably be there.

“Hey Ume, I’m heading out!”

“Wait, you’re heading out?” she asked.

“Yep. See you later,” he said, and then hurried back towards the entrance where Sanma was waiting.

A frantic Ume Ochazuke followed close behind him. “You’re really going?” she asked. “Not that it’s a bad thing! I’ll hold down the fort here. But…”

“Yeah, I’m going outside with Sanma. It’s no big deal.” Sukiyaki tried to be flippant about it, but Ume eyebrows still furrowed in concern. She knew him better than he would have liked to admit.

Ume spotted Sanma at the entrance and confirmed his words. “Oh, hello Sanma,” she greeted, expression smoothing over to her usual smiling face. “If it’s you, then I’m sure it’ll be fine. Hehe, I guess I’ll leave Sukiyaki in your capable hands!”

“Yes, yes, we’re leaving now,” Sukiyaki said a little forcefully. “Bye!” 

He sighed as he shut the door behind him. Ume meant well, but she had a habit of being a little… meddlesome.

“Come on. Let’s go,” Sukiyaki said, striding past Sanma. When Sukiyaki was a few steps ahead of him, he looked back and held out his arm towards Sanma, gesturing him forward.

He expected Sanma to follow him quietly, without any verbal acknowledgment. But what he didn’t expect was for Sanma to take Sukiyaki’s hand into his, fingers curling around his palm in a gentle but firm hold.

“Huh?”

While Sukiyaki was left speechless by Sanma’s strange actions, Sanma took the lead and guided them through the narrow stone path that led to the back of the inn, where the actual ‘red leaf pavilion’ stood.

The sky was dark, illuminated only by the stars and the waxing moon. Snowflakes drifted by, carried by the wind.

It was almost like that fateful winter day--

_“Mother said these clothes are dowry for Wakaba, so if Wakaba gives these to you, will you marry Wakaba?”_

Ah. This was bad. Shaking his head, Sukiyaki desperately tried to think of something else.

After all, this year was supposed to be different. Last year, he had made a promise with Sanma to watch the snowfall together. Apparently, Sanma thought the snowflakes looked pretty, so Sukiyaki had decided that maybe watching the snow wouldn’t be so bad. It had been many years since _that_ incident occurred, after all. Or at least, that was what he had thought.

As if he could read Sukiyaki’s mind, Sanma’s squeezed his hand in reassurance. Right. He almost forgot about that too, but now that he was being reminded… His face flushed. Yet, he still didn’t do anything to separate their hands. The warmth helped ground Sukiyaki to the present.

“I was looking forward to this first snowfall,” Sanma said.

“Oh?” Sukiyaki said. He didn’t have confidence that he could say much else without his voice shaking.

“Yes, I like how the moon reflects off the snow at night. It’s sad that the red maple leaves have already fallen, but the snow is pretty too.”

“Mm.” 

“Something is on your mind,” Sanma said.

“...Do you know what I don’t like about the snow?”

“No,” he said, because it was true.

“Ha ha, so honest.” Sukiyaki smiled playfully. “But that’s what I like about you.”

Sanma didn’t reply, even when he held his gaze for several long moments. In fact, his expression didn’t change in the slightest. Sukiyaki expected as much, and it warmed his heart that Sanma was still the same as ever.

“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you. Don’t stare back so hard.” Sukiyaki cleared his throat. “Ahem. Well, I did say that I’d tell you, right? Maybe you already know by now.

“My previous Master Attendant, Wakaba… She was a doctor. She-- Her mother summoned me in the middle of winter. It was such a cold night, I remember. Of course, that doesn’t mean much to us, but little Wakaba didn’t know and tried to wrap me up in her spare clothes. She was only six years old at the time… Wakaba stuck to my leg like glue all the time, maybe because she never had a father figure. There was a deadly hereditary disease in the family, you see.

“Things were fine until her mother died, eight years later. She was only fourteen, and her own impending death was made clear to her. Maybe if she wasn’t so young, she wouldn’t have had to resort to such drastic things… That is, someone had given her a suspicious medicine book, one that she hoped could cure her illness. Of course, the book was full of nonsense. In the end, she succumbed to the disease haunting her family.

“Why did this happen to her? Why did I become attached to her? I stood by her side, but I couldn’t do anything to help her. I watched her mother die, and then I watched her die. The snow, the winter, it reminds me of the beginning of it all. I want to leave it in the past, but I just can’t let it go.”

Sanma’s eyes widened. “Then, the first time we met was…”

“Yeah, it was when Wakaba… passed away. I remember what you told me that time too, you really surprised me.” After telling his story, Sukiyaki felt lighter. Melancholy still clung to his chest, but his smile was a little more genuine.

“I remember too. You were crying back then. You’re still crying right now.”

Sukiyaki reflexively brought a hand to his cheek. As he thought, there were no tears. He gave Sanma a questioning look, to which he was answered with a stern face.

“Not there. Here,” he said, pointing to his chest. Sanma sighed and then proceeded to wrapping both of his arms around Sukiyaki.

“Hm?”

As if in response, Sanma’s arms wrapped around him tighter.

“Hm? Um… Sanma, this is…?”

“Sukiyaki.” His voice was soft, but assertive. Held in his embrace, it was almost like he could shield him from the world. “Sukiyaki,” Sanma repeated. He broke off the hug slightly so that he could look into Sukiyaki’s eyes. “It wasn’t your fault. You did your best.”

“Ah, what’s this now? You--” This isn’t fair. You lost someone too. He wanted to say that, but he was distracted by the pressure in his eyes. “Huh? Why...”

As if on cue, a stream of tears fell down his cheeks and he could no longer blink them away. Sanma just smiled and helped him wipe away the tears. He pressed a fleetingly chaste kiss to Sukiyaki’s forehead but if anything, that only made him cry more.

He couldn’t stand it. He wanted to hide his own loneliness away from himself, but he couldn’t even do that. “Agh, this is so embarrassing. How could you do this to me,” Sukiyaki said with no bite.

“I care about you,” Sanma replied. Then, with a straight face, he said, “I like you.”

“Stop! Stop! Enough.” Sukiyaki’s face was flushed once again and he broke away from their embrace from embarrassment. “I like you too. But enough with these bold-faced words! I can’t take it!”

“But Sukiyaki, I also wanted to say...”

“Hm? Say what?”

“I wanted to say that I was looking forward to the snowfall so I could spend time with you.”

“You!! You’re doing that on purpose!” Sukiyaki waved a finger at him in accusation. He pointedly refused to meet Sanma’s gaze, fighting to regain his composure. “But… Thank you. For being you.”

“…Sukiyaki, you already know this, but you’re not alone. We won’t disappear on you, so you don’t have to hide away from us either.”

“What’s this? Okay Sanma-_sensei_, I won’t do it again,” Sukiyaki said, waving his fan. “No need for a lecture!”

They both laughed when their eyes met.

Though the night was cold, maybe the snow-covered scenery wasn’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Ume gave them a real smug smile when they came back home :^)
> 
> Leave a comment to let me know what you think!  
Come talk to me about Sanma/Sukiyaki on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/carsinoska) too!


End file.
